A driving force in the cultural and intellectual life of Europe, a place of intellectual growth for Talmud students from all over Europe, a centre of activity for rabbis of supraregional reputation, the donor of the name for a Haredi neighborhood in the north of Jerusalem, and flourishing Jewish Communities, which were able to flourish over a period of about 250 years, free from expulsion and persecution and enjoying comparatively extensive freedoms, until the National Socialists came to power in Austria. All this can be linked to the former Jewish Communities of Burgenland.
Until 1938, a rich diversity of Jewish life existed in Burgenland. This can also be seen in the wide range of religious life: there were both, strictly Orthodox Communities as well as liberal Neological communal life. The most famous are the Siebengemeinden/Sheva Kehillot, which had been established under the protection of the Esterhàzy family since the 17th century. Even today, the grave of Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt at the older Jewish cemetery in Eisenstadt is considered a place of pilgrimage for Orthodox Jews from all over the world.
Today there is not a single Jewish Community left in Burgenland. When the National Socialists came to power in 1938, the communities were shattered, their inhabitants were plundered, expelled and murdered. Those who managed to escape abroad have exported the memory of these once significant Communities from Burgenland throughout the world. The route through the Jewish heritage of Burgenland is therefore both: a reminder of former spiritual magnificence and cultural wealth and a silent witness to the expulsion and robbery of the same
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Jewish Czech Republic
The Jews arrived in the Czech Lands as early as during the time of the Great Moravian Empire in the 9th century. They first passed through as merchants and later started settling down permanently here. A report by an Arab-Jewish merchant, Ibrahim Ibn Yaqoub, written in 965, refers to the presence of Jewish merchants in Prague marketplaces. At first, Jews lived either in separate enclosed courts or, for safety and religious reasons, in small settlements. At the time, they founded these freely, with the permission of the ruler, in places which they found suitable, probably close to international or local markets. Their situation was affected, however, by the Crusades and restrictions which pushed them to the margins of society. They were the direct subjects of the king, who provided protection to them for which, however, they had to pay. From the end of the 13th to the end of the 18th century the Jews were mostly forced to live in ethnically enclosed settlements. Different kinds of settlements emerged; in some places, mainly in the country, they were just a cluster of cottages, in other places rows of houses along one or both sides of a “Jewish“ street, and in places where a larger number of Jewish families lived Jewish quarters were founded. Jewish streets and quarters were most often referred to as V židech [At the Jews], which corresponded to the Spanish Judería , German Judengasse or Judestadt and the French Juiverie. The now common term ghetto started taking root from the 16th century. The largest ghetto in the Czech Lands was the Jewish Town of Prague; other large ghettoes included, for example, Mikulov and Boskovice in Moravia.
Jewish Italy
Travellers who cross the Alps to enter Il Bel Paese (The Beautiful Country) will follow footsteps steeped in history and encounter landscapes rich in natural differences and dotted with extraordinary works of art, many of which speak to the Jewish presence throughout the peninsula. In Venice, visitors will come across the first ghetto in history; in Turin, they can lift their eyes to the monumental spire of the Mole, originally designed as a synagogue; in Florence, they can walk into the great synagogue of the Emancipation. As they head south to Rome, travellers will find the oldest community of the Diaspora; in Naples, the latest community to be reborn in Italy since the expulsion of 1492.
Throughout the country’s southern tip and in unique corners like the Sicilian town of Agira, visitors will find ancient remains imbued with millennias’ worth of history and legend. As they wander among these traces of history, tasting local flavors, they’ll build a connection to the land that will last a lifetime. Thanks to the collaboration of Visit Jewish Italy and I Tal Ya – L’Italia Ebraica – Cultura Gusto E Tradizioni, our route is an organized showcase that will guide you in arranging visits, planning itineraries, and accessing relevant services so that you can discover Jewish Italy’s remarkable heritage.’
Jewish Lithuania
Jewish heritage in Lithuania is a complex experience, which involves sites related to traditional Judaism, modern secular Jewish thought and shtetl culture specific to this region. Lithuanian Jewish heritage is part of a wider phenomenon known as Litvak culture, and the history of this phenomenon can be discovered through Litvak cuisine, Litvak relations with other ethnic groups in the region, and Litvak self-reflection.
Another significant part of the Route is presenting stories of famous Litvaks from all around Lithuania, whose ideas, art, inventions and so on make the image of Litvak culture prominent among other Jewish diaspora communities. JHL focuses on presenting authentic historical narratives about Jewish cultural heritage sites, bringing to light the involvement of the Jewish diaspora in the cultural and economical development of the region. The Jewish Heritage Route in Lithuania can lead to different directions based on the preferences of the visitor, whether it be learning about Vilnius as the Jerusalem of the North, rediscovering forgotten wooden synagogues in the old shtetls, or encountering industrial Jewish heritage in the biggest Lithuanian cities.
Poland’s Chassidic Route
The Route of Jewish heritage in Poland makes the first attempt at a comprehensive approach towards the very complex issues of Jewish heritage in Poland. This viewpoint comes in a cross-section form reflecting on all of the most important phenomena related to what is broadly understood as Jewish Poland and its millennium long history dating back to High Middle Ages.
The Route combines hub cities, perceived as optimal connectors for telling the story of Polish Jewry with its all extraordinary nuances, located in several Polish regions across the country. Linking those 5 hub cities creates a closed trail in a form of a circle.
At the same time, these are the largest Polish metropolitan centers, and allow for a number of sub-routes of regional character to be established in each of the 5 sections.
Georgia Jewish Route
The Georgian Jews’ diaspora is ancient, specifically the history of Jews in Georgia counts 28 centuries. This means that Georgian-speaking Jewry is a community with the biggest number of surviving Jewish heritages in the whole world. The Jews were settled in different cities and villages around Georgia, such as: Oni, Gori, Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Mtskheta, etc. The 11th century Georgian historical sources say that the Jews first appeared and settled down in Kartli, after the destruction of the first temple by Nabukhodonosor (586 B.C) and their persecution from Jerusalem; as we know from history Jews were welcomed in the whole Georgia. Georgia is the only country in the world where Jews have not been persecuted on ethnic or religious grounds. Moreover, Georgian kings used Jews in diplomatic service and often sent them to negotiations. For example in the 12th century Jewish head trader Zanjan Zorababeli brought a husband for Georgia’s first female king Tamar.
Jewish Heritage in Spain
Sitting at a crossroads between Spain and France, Catalonia enjoys a rich historical heritage that bears a stronger mark than it may seem from the Jewish community that once lived there – and still does.
Jewish presence in Catalonia began over 1000 years ago, and at one point Catalan Jews were a sizeable percentage of the local population and became a beacon for worlwide Jewish culture and religion. However, a wave of violence at the end on the 14th century heralded the end of the community. It would be so for over 500 years, until at the end of the 19th century Jewish immigrants started to arrive to Catalonia. First from Turkey and central Europe, and eventually from all over.
Now it hosts a small but lively community and a rich but complex heritage that resists straightforward definitions.
Jewish Izmir
The Route of Jewish Heritage in Izmir is a project under development, but already offers many things to explore. Its presence dating back to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the Jewish heritage of Izmir exhibits a unique character with its dominant Sephardic traditions of religion and worship, along with the architectural styles of the synagogues that existed in medieval Spain.
Out of many magnificent synagogues built in previous centuries in Izmir, only ten remain today within the Old Juderia and two in the New Juderia. Izmir is the only city to encounter the typical architectural features that survived collectively to the present day.
Some preserved, some in ruins, these synagogues together with the cortejos, the cemeteries, and an elevator tower, also constitute a living testimony to community’s life in Izmir, which was one of the most spectacular of its kind and had the most spiritual and cultural influence on all Jewish diaspora communities in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Jewish Ukraine
Ukraine’s Jewish community has a rich history: here were the first shtetls, built by Jews working for Polish aristocrats in the 18th century; it is here that Hasidism had its origins; and it is here that classic Yiddish-language literature began to develop. Moreover, Ukraine has one of the largest numbers of Jewish heritage sites of any European country: some 1,500 have been identified with the true number likely running into the thousands.
The development of the Ukrainian Route of Jewish Heritage will begin in Western Ukraine, highlighting the life of Jews in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Chernivsti Oblasts.
Florida Jewish Heritage Trail
The rich legacy of the Jewish community in Florida can be found in every region of the state. As a people, Jews have contributed dramatically to
Florida’s economy, culture and government and created institutions that allowed their heritage to flourish and their identity to strengthen. Although there is a perception that Jews did not arrive in Florida until after WWII, Jewish history in Florida actually can be traced to 1763 with the arrival of Alexander Solomons, Joseph de Pallacios, and Samuel Israel in Pensacola. In the 1800’s many Jewish families immigrated to Florida from northern states and foreign countries to settle both inland and along the coast. Today, South Florida is home to the second largest concentration of Jews in the world, and Florida has the nations third largest Jewish community.
